LATEST ISSUE

In this special retrofit issue we launch our new RetroFirst campaign championing reuse in the built environment. We also announce the winners of the AJ Retrofit Awards 2019 covering 18 different categories; as well as building studies of two retrofit projects: Orms’ conversion of council offices into a hotel in Camden, north London; and Flower Michelin Architects’ Shingle House renovation and extension of a seaside ...

Ministers propose powerful new homes ombudsman

Ministers have mooted the creation of a new single body with the power to award home-owners hefty payouts for shoddy building work

The government has opened a consultation on the possibility of a single housing ombudsman with significant abilities to address buyers’ concerns.

It follows a call from councils chief and peer Lord Best last month for an ombudsman with ‘sharp teeth’ to drive up the quality of new house building.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment last year warned of falling satisfaction levels among buyers of new-build homes.

The consultation, which will run for eight weeks, asks whether a single ombudsman should be created to deal with housing issues.

‘Primary legislation would ultimately be required to create an entirely new organisation to combine most of the existing housing redress functions, and potentially also new functions where there are currently gaps, into a single body,’ said the consultation document.

It also asks what powers any redress system should possess. One option is the right to award compensation payments ‘in excess of £25,000’.

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